When Covid-19 quickly spread across the world in March 2020, the government’s response was to put the country into lockdown to reduce contamination.
However, the lead lawyer for the Covid-19 inquiry Hugo Keith QC has said: “There appears to have been a failure to think through the potentially massive impact on education and on the economy.”
Although the inquiry has only just begun, Mr Keith told the court: “It is apparent that we might not have been very well prepared at all.”
He also questioned whether the NHS had enough funding to cope with the extra pressures of a pandemic, and whether the no-deal Brexit drained resources that could have been put towards preparing for such an outbreak.
According to government figures, 227,321 people have died from Covid-19 in the UK over the last three years, with tens of thousands dying every week during peak periods.
While the government’s handling of national lockdowns is being questioned, this figure may have been a lot higher if it had not prevented people from seeing one another, shutting offices, shops, and other services as well.
As well as being forced to wear masks, the public may have benefited from using finger coverings in public. This would have reduced spread of the virus on surfaces, such as ticket machines, ATMs and in grocery stores.
While the threat of Covid-19 is considerably lower now than it was in 2020, more than 2,000 people were admitted to hospital with the illness between May 16th and 22nd this year.
Therefore, it is wise to remain cautious to reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
